Hope for the future

The reopening of the sawmill in Midway, B.C., promises to bring jobs and economic benefits to an area hit hard by the recession

Steve Thomson, B.C. minister of forests, lands and natural resource operations, praised the community effort behind the reopening of the sawmill at the ribbon-cutting ceremony. — Photo courtesy B.C. Government

The Midway sawmill has been reopened following its purchase by a group of investors and is slated to restart production by the end of the year. The official ribbon-cutting ceremony took place on April 9, 2011, with government representatives and community stakeholders celebrating the event.

“With the announcement of this opportunity, it really buoyed the spirits of people in town,” said Randy Kappes, the mayor of Midway. “They saw that there was some hope in the area and a chance to return to the community that we were previously.”

The mill will be operated by Vaagen Brothers—a privately owned company headquartered in Colville, Washington, with the necessary experience to work with small-top tree sizes. By tooling the mill to work with small-top tree sizes, Kappes said there may be potential to increase the annual allowable cut for the area.

“The economic downturn has hit this area pretty hard,” Kappes said. “(In) most of the families with school-aged children, either one member of the family is out of the area all the time or the family’s moved away entirely.”

Under the former owners, Pope and Talbot, the mill generated roughly 150 direct and indirect jobs. Approximately 30 direct jobs are projected at the mill to start; this will be complemented with business from outside contractors.

Vaagen Brothers is currently working on the details of operational planning, but the company hopes to start production sometime in the fourth quarter, said Kappes.